At the present time, a great deal of information is stored in cartridge reels which contain film, such as microfilm. For example, in the United States Patent Office Search Room, microfilm cartridges are available which have every United State patent in chronological order. These cartridges are selected and inserted into a motor driven spinner. The cartridge reel contains a reel hub which has openings for engagement with the motor drive of the microfilm viewing film. Typically, the reel hub has a face with four holes which are sized to be engaged by pins on the drive mechanism of the viewing equipment.
Typically, the cartridge reel contains a square box with alignment guides for inserting the cartridge into the viewing equipment. A round aluminum hub is attached to a molded plastic reel. The reel is slightly smaller than the inside wall of the cartridge and is loosely contained in the cartridge box. The entire cartridge is designed to fit into a motor driven spinner where the four projecting pins engage the reel and wind or unwind the film contained on the reel.
While the cartridge reel system is highly effective for storing film of various types, and while the motor driven viewing devices provide for access to the film at varying speeds, it is not always possible to use a motor driven spinner, either because the viewing device is in use or because it is at a different location. Anyone who has attempted to turn the wheel in a cartridge of this type by hand has experienced a great deal of frustration. Occasionally, the film is partially removed from the reel, for repair or for specific viewing of a particular frame or for other reasons. Attempting to rewind the film by hand is inefficient at best. Efforts to rewind a cartridge reel using a pencil, for example, to turn the reel, can cause the film to be jammed inside the cartridge box since the reel is not supported in a location equally distant from the four inside walls. Even if the film is not damaged, it can be bound up or stuck so that the cartridge has to be disassembled.
It would be a great advantage if a small hand held spinning device could be provided which would allow the reel with the film to be turned in either direction with relative ease as is done with a motor driven spinner. It would also be a great advantage if the device used to manually turn the reel in a cartridge reel assembly was self aligning without requiring the cartridge to be placed in a supporting or aligning device. Other objects will appear hereinafter.